Girls Tennis Loses a Heartbreaker to Marblehead 3-2

Two and a half hours after the girls walked onto the courts at Seaside Park in Marblehead, the match ended.  Unfortunately for Swampscott, the girls from Marblehead came out on top  3 -2.  It was a terrific match.  Tied at 2 matches each, it came down to a battle on the first singles court between two sophomores Anna Raptunovich from Swampscott, and Tory Booth from Marblehead.  Anna dropped the first set 6-1, but found a way to fight back in the second set which she lost 7-5.  This match could have gone either way.  Anna has terrific strokes and a beautiful game. However, Tory was more consistent today.  Tory can sit on the base line and just lob one ball after another to her opponent without missing.  She is very frustrating to play and it takes a lot of patience which Anna exhibited in the second set.  Anna certainly has the skills and potential to beat Tory and hopefully their rematch on May 10th will be just as exciting but this time Anna will  have the W!

The two wins for Swampscott came with dominating performaces by our number 2 and 3 singles players.  Freshman Vivien Gere beat a very experienced senior, Annie Ryan 6-1 ,6-0.  She was so impressive today.  There was a lot of pressure going into this match and I was unsure how Vivien would handle it.  She was great, exhibiting poise, patience, and power.  She said it was helpful having members of the boys varsity team cheering her on behind the court!  At third singles Veronica Pyatigorskaya crushed another Marblehead senior Sarah Katz 6-2,6-0.  I can't say enough about Veronica's powerful serve and her ability to change up strokes from to spin to slice.  She is a confident player right now with  a lot of weapons that no opponent has found an answer to yet.

Our 2nd and 3rd losses today came at first and second doubles.  Allegra Walker and Jessica Zolott lost to a very experienced doubles combination of Meghan Gabel and Kelly Mealey 6-1, 6-2.  The Marblehead players were bigger, stronger, and had more experience.  I was proud of Allegra's and Jessica's effort and playing a doubles team of this caliber will only help them improve.  Unfortunately, they have not had a lot of practice against an experienced team like Meghan and Kelly and were frequently unprepared for their power and aggressive play. At second doubles, Natalyia Andrushchenko and Michelle Schnayder lost to Meaghan Hanratty and Amanda Gilberg 6-4, 6-2.  Both teams played well, but once again the Marblehead players were just more aggressive and a little more consistent. 

I knew this match would be a close one which makes it so tough to lose.  The girls gave it their best effort and that's all any coach can ask for. I was so proud of them :)  Thank you to all the fans that came to support us including teachers and coaches from Swampscott High School, parents, friends and a special thanks to the boys tennis team and their coach, Neil Whitehouse as well as to the retired girls coach Lenny Polacco.